My Bride's Late, so I Marry Someone Else

On the day of our wedding, all the guests take their seats, and the photographers and lighting crew are ready to go. The emcee announces, "Please welcome the bride, Lana Bowen!" Even though he has repeated himself three times, Lana is still nowhere to be seen. I call Lana, and she only picks up on my fifth try. I can hear the noisy bustle of a mall in the background. "Mark, Nick says he wants to be your groomsman. He's picking out a suit right now. Give me an hour. Once Nick gets changed and gets his hair done, we'll head over." My palms are getting clammy as I softly say, "Lana, this is our wedding day, not some casual get-together." She clicks her tongue. "Mark Waters, it's not like I said I wasn't going. Nick's going to be your groomsman. I can't exactly have him showing up in a T-shirt and shorts, can I?" My good friend Robert Decker is so mad that he's ready to give her a piece of his mind, but she hangs up the moment Nicholas Sampson calls her name. The emcee comes over and asks if we should postpone the ceremony. I turn to my parents, who are waiting expectantly, then to my future in-laws, who have looks of disdain on their faces. "Start on schedule, but change the bride's name." I tap Robert on the shoulder. "Get your sister to help me out and go through the wedding with me instead." Chapter 1 Mark's POV The call had barely ended when my friend, Robert Decker, muttered a curse under his breath. "Look at this and tell me Nicholas Sampson isn't doing this on purpose!" His phone screen showed a post Nicholas had made just two minutes ago. "Lana brought over every suit and dress shirt in the store, but I'm terrible at making decisions. Why don't you guys pick which one looks the best?" In the video, my fiancee, Lana Bowen, was standing off to the side as she had the staff bring over every single suit. Nicholas laughed. "Isn't this a bit much?" Lana wasn't looking at the camera, but the smile on her face was unmistakable. "You're doing me a favor by agreeing to be a groomsman, so the least I can do is make sure you look sharp." My chest felt so tight I could barely breathe. Three months had passed between our engagement party and our wedding. During those months, Lana kept saying she was too busy with the project, so she skipped out on choosing a wedding planner, food tastings, and pretty much everything we were supposed to do together. I let all the other things slide, but I really wanted her to be there when we went to try on our wedding outfits. Back then, she just shook her head helplessly. "Mark, once this gallery project wraps up, I'll get a promotion and a raise. I'm doing this for our future, aren't I? "Besides, Nicholas already picked out my wedding dress for me, so only you would be trying on suits. Since I'm not trying anything on, whether I'm there or not doesn't matter." At the time, I felt completely stuck, like I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't wrap my head around it. I wanted to see her in her wedding dress. Didn't she want to see me in a suit as well? But now, I finally got it. It wasn't that preparing for the wedding with me didn't matter. It was just that I didn't matter to her. I'd been standing outside the banquet hall for 20 minutes at that point, and I was starting to feel lightheaded from low blood sugar. Robert brought over a chair and made me sit, cursing up a storm the whole time. "Does Lana not have a brain? A wedding is a huge deal, and yet she's off helping another man try on suits? A groomsman suit, of all things! "You already chose your groomsmen three months ago. Who adds another one on the actual wedding day?" The two bridesmaids on the other side caught wind of what was going on and awkwardly came over to explain. "Mark, don't be mad. Lana's just doing this for work." I lowered my head and closed my eyes for a moment. I'd only recently found out the client behind that gallery project was Nicholas himself. We'd all gone to college together, so everyone knew Nicholas was Lana's unrequited first love back in college. Just to cheer Nicholas up after his heartbreak, Lana had gone and pitched the gallery project to her company herself. When the company said no, she poured more than a million dollars of her own money into it. She wasn't getting a promotion or a raise out of it, but if the project failed, she'd lose her position as project director. She'd spent every one of those early mornings and late nights over the past three months with Nicholas, too. Just then, the phone in my hand buzzed. It was a video call from Lana. The moment I answered, she pointed at a row of suits. "Mark, hurry, help me pick. Which one looks better? I think these look better, but Nick likes those patterned ones." Chapter 2 Mark's POV Lana was all smiles, her gaze drifting off to the other side of the store, where Nicholas stood in a black suit with his tie already done. "But this all-black one looks pretty good too. What do you think, Nick?" Nicholas waved at the camera. "Mark, how do I look in this? Think I'd make a good groomsman in it?" Robert, who was watching from the side, was so pissed he almost started cursing. I quietly said, "Lana, the ceremony was supposed to have started by now. Don't forget that we're supposed to exchange rings at 11:58 am. That's our local custom." She didn't seem bothered at all, her smile still on her face. "Customs are just customs, you know. A little delay won't kill anyone. Nick, let's go with this one. It looks great on you." I bit my lip. "Now that you've settled on a suit, get over here." She frowned, her expression changing in an instant. "Nick hasn't even gotten his hair done yet. I can't exactly have him showing up with his hair all messy, can I? "Have them start serving the food. I promise I'll be there within the hour." She then ended the video call. The side door creaked open, and the emcee rushed over. "The bride still isn't here? It's 11:40 am right now. The guests are asking where she is! "Are we delaying the ceremony? You need to decide. We can't miss the right time to exchange rings, not with this many people watching!" A bridesmaid quickly tried to smooth things over. "Don't worry, Mark. Lana knows what she's doing. Why don't we serve the food first? She'll definitely be here within an hour." Robert turned to glare at them. "You want to serve the food before the ceremony? How many guests do you think will still be around by the time the bride shows up?" "But Lana's only doing this for work—" I tightened my grip on my phone and cut them off. "We'll be on schedule. The rings will be exchanged at 11:58 am. We're not breaking our customs." The emcee had barely left when Lana's mother, Evelyn Kemp, came out. The second she saw me, she gave a cold snort. "There are 200 people in there waiting, and here you are, sitting out and relaxing." I simply said, "Mrs. Bowen, they're all waiting for Lana, not me." She rolled her eyes, her face full of contempt. "Then clearly you must have done something to upset her. Thanks to you, everything is a mess, and now we're running behind schedule. The Bowen family has always had a good reputation, and then you came along and ruined everything." Even the bridesmaids exchanged awkward looks when they heard that. Robert snorted. "Who's the one ruining their reputation here? Isn't it the person who overslept on their own wedding day?" Mrs. Bowen immediately raised her voice. "My daughter has been working nonstop for three whole days! What's wrong with catching up on sleep? You can't even show her a little consideration? What, are you planning to live off my daughter?" The dress shoes I had on today were a gift from Lana. She'd mixed up my size with Nicholas', so they were a little too small for me. My toes were being squeezed in together, and every time I moved, pain shot straight through me. Lana hadn't come home in three days now. She'd told her parents that she was busy with work, but we all knew she'd gone to an old town with Nicholas. Nicholas' social media posts showed her counting stars and watching the moon with him. And they even camped by a river while they sketched and painted. I sent her over a dozen messages, urging her to come home early so that she wouldn't be late for the wedding. But she merely said, "It's not even time yet. Relax. The gallery's opening soon, and Nick still hasn't decided on the main piece. I'm out here helping him find inspiration. I promise I'll be back before the wedding." True to her word, she did come back before the wedding. She just didn't get home until 3:00 am, and then she slept until 11:00 am. The pre-wedding arrangements had to be cancelled. I plastered on a smile and asked both families to head straight to the venue. But I never expected that when she woke up, instead of coming to her own wedding, she would go shopping for a suit with Nicholas. Standing a few meters away, Mrs. Bowen ordered me around like she owned the place. "Since Lana isn't here yet, come inside. Lana's grandfather's glass is empty. Go refill it." I stayed right where I was. "If the bride isn't here yet, there's no reason for the groom to go in early and play host." Mrs. Bowen's face darkened immediately. The bridesmaids were all Lana's college roommates. Afraid that things would get out of hand, they quickly talked Mrs. Bowen into going back inside. I unlocked my phone and saw messages from my parents asking why the wedding still hadn't started. Chapter 3 Mark's POV Before I could even type a reply, Lana started blowing up my phone with messages. Every single one was a photo of Nicholas wearing that suit and a white shirt, shot from different angles. Some were close-ups, while some were taken farther away. There were 18 of them in total. Lana called right after, sounding almost giddy. "Did you see the photos? That suit looks great on Nick." I ignored the question and checked the time. "There are ten minutes left." There was a brief silence on the line before she stepped away and spoke quietly. "Mark, I already told you to wait a little longer. "I've already got my wedding dress on. The second I get there, I'll just slip the veil on. I promise it won't take long." I pressed my lips together. "According to our customs, we're supposed to exchange rings at 11:58 am." "Mark Waters!" Lana lowered her voice. "Young people like us don't actually care about local customs. Besides, Nick is doing his own hair right now because he was worried you'd be upset. He's already going out of his way for you. "Just relax. It won't even take an hour. We'll definitely exchange rings within 40 minutes." She said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. But to me, her words were nothing short of laughable. For the gallery's groundbreaking ceremony, she'd planned every detail two weeks in advance, down to the exact second, because apparently a half-second delay would wreck the trajectory of Nicholas' entire career. But when it came to our wedding, suddenly the timing didn't matter because we were young. "Lana, do you really want 200 people sitting around waiting 40 minutes for you?" She blurted out, "Just have the wedding staff put on a show. 40 minutes will pass in no time. If all else fails, you can sing a few songs. You used to perform at bars, anyway. You're good at it." As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she'd crossed a line. Back in college, my family's business ran into trouble, and the creditors beat my dad up so badly that he ended up in the hospital. I gritted my teeth and juggled classes during the day with bar gigs at night. Just to make a little extra in tips, I drank until I ended up with a stomach ulcer more than once. Those were the four most painful years of my life. Even now, just thinking about the past made me feel sick. Even after Dad got better and we cleared our debts and got back on our feet, I still couldn't bring myself to sing again. Lana knew how much I hated that part of my past, yet she casually brought it up like it was nothing. As I pressed a hand to my churning stomach, I heard Lana quickly add, "Mark, I didn't mean to say that. Don't overthink things. I promise I'll be there within 40 minutes for the ceremony. Just wait for me a little longer, okay?" But I was done listening to any more of her promises. I hung up without another word and sent my parents a quick message telling them not to worry. But the guests' voices were growing louder, and even the closed door couldn't muffle them. I looked down at the suit I was wearing. My grandma had made the long trip from home despite her motion sickness, just to see me get married. My friends had traveled from all over to congratulate me, and my parents had turned down several major business deals just to be here. Just preparing the wedding gifts had taken so much out of them. A wedding wasn't some trivial affair. It was the joining of two families. Exchanging the rings at the right time meant the marriage would be off to a smooth start and that everything would go well for both families. Lana might be okay with putting it off, but I wasn't. The side door opened again, and a petite figure handed me a glass of water. "Mark, have some water. It'll soothe your throat." Robert's younger sister, Violet Decker, glanced back down the corridor. "Robert, Lana's still not here?" "She's busy keeping a groomsman company while he gets his hair done. Super important business." One of the bridesmaids scratched her head awkwardly. "Robert, quit being sarcastic. It's not like Lana isn't coming. She just needs a bit more time—that's all." While taking small sips of water, I watched Violet pull a chocolate bar out of her pocket. She muttered in a low voice, "I must've been out of my mind to think she was a good woman." Before I could make out what she'd said, Robert angrily held up his phone. "What the heck? There are hundreds of people waiting over here, and they're over there doing a photoshoot!" Nicholas flooded his feed with posts, uploading five nine-photo collages one after another. The first few were pictures of him in the suit. The rest were photos of him posing alongside Lana in her white dress. The captions were either a string of red heart emojis or the word "nice". Chapter 4 Mark's POV Violet gave the screen nothing more than a cold glance before breaking the chocolate into small pieces and passing them to me. "Here, Mark. Have something to eat first. We wouldn't want you keeling over from low blood sugar." As I let a piece of chocolate melt on my tongue, the anger in my chest still refused to go away. I took out my phone and liked Nicholas' latest post. Then I commented, "Talk about a perfect match." Less than 30 seconds later, Lana called me. "Mark, what is that comment supposed to mean? Delete it right now! Nick just got his hair done, and the second he saw your comment, he ran his hands through it and messed it all up again!" It had only been 30 seconds, and he'd already messed up his hair again. There was a hint of mockery in my voice as I said, "Am I wrong? One of you is in a suit, the other in a white dress. If that's not a perfect match, I don't know what is." Lana was getting annoyed. "What are you even saying? I was only taking some pictures with Nick. If people see your comment, they're going to get the wrong impression of him!" "You didn't have time to take engagement photos with me, but it seems like you have plenty of time to take dozens of pictures with him." "How can you even compare those two things? Nick really loves this suit, and I—" "Lana, I'm the groom today, not Nicholas." Lana took a deep breath, clearly losing patience. "I know you're the groom, but Nick is going to be your groomsman. If he looks sharp, that will reflect well on you too. How can you say something so nasty? "Mark, stop being childish. It's not going to kill anyone if the wedding gets delayed a little." The door swung open, and the emcee came rushing out, drenched in sweat. "Is the bride still not here yet? It's 11:57 am! We have to start the ceremony right now if we want to follow our local custom!" I gave a nod and repeated to Lana, "It's 11:57 am." Lana clicked her tongue, her irritation evident. "It's our wedding. The emcee doesn't get to call the shots. I'm not there yet. You can't exactly get married by yourself, can you? "Stop making a fuss, Mark. Nick is fixing his hair right now. Just wait a little longer. As soon as I get there, we can start. He was really hurt when he saw your comment. Remember to apologize to him later." I could hear the concern in her voice when she mentioned Nicholas. I pushed myself up from the chair and motioned for Robert to take it away. "Forget it. We can still have the wedding without you." I hung up, glanced over at Violet, and tapped Robert on the shoulder. "Get your sister to help me out and go through the wedding with me instead." The corridor outside went dead silent for two full seconds. Violet straightened up in surprise, her mouth falling open as she sucked in a sharp breath. Robert was so caught off guard that he nearly choked on his own spit as he tried to get a word out. The bridesmaids' faces fell. But before they could rush over to stop me, the emcee's frantic voice drowned them out. "Somebody get a veil! You're wearing a long dress—perfect! All you need is a veil to walk down the aisle!" Robert immediately turned and ran. "There's a spare one in the dressing room. I'll get it!" I looked straight at Violet. "Violet, can you do me a favor?" A few seconds later, Robert came sprinting back with a veil in his arms. Violet took it from him, pinned it into her hair, and came over to stand beside me. "Open the doors." Robert's eyes were practically shining. He'd originally been assigned to bring the rings over to us, but now he wasted no time putting the ring box in my hand. He shoved the frantic bridesmaids aside and stood with the other groomsman. They each grabbed one of the door handles. The emcee ran back through the side door, gasping for breath as he shouted, "And now, please welcome the bride, Violet Decker, and the groom, Mark Waters!" The double doors swung open. Violet took my arm, and we quickly walked onto the stage. Just as Robert started clapping with all his might, his eyes red with emotion, my phone started ringing. He answered the call. "Mark, what did you mean by that? How can there be a ceremony without a bride?" As Lana's protests rang out, the emcee announced loudly, right on time, "Now, will the bride and groom please face each other and exchange wedding rings?" Lana was stunned for a moment. She then screamed, "Mark Waters, who exactly are you exchanging rings with?"